Grassy Hills
by shar0n01
Summary: Quinn and Rachel are both new teachers at Quest Bridge Boarding school in Santa Barbara, CA. They knew eachother in HS but Rachel didn't exactly keep in touch...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Glee, or any of its characters.

Hello everyone… I have never posted anything on here, although I have been an avid reader of fic for years. Just thought I'd throw this up here and see if anyone's interested in me continuing. Thanks.

This is mainly written in the third person omniscient POV, but will jump around a bit between Rachel and Quinn's POV.

The summer wind blows slowly outside the car. Its early morning but she's already so tired. That's because it's impossible to sleep the night before your first say as the new music teacher at Crest Bridge Boarding School. The schools prestigious standing and long list of wealthy alums only makes this morning that much more unnerving. The four cups of coffee in the hotel didn't help either. She had arrived from New York the previous afternoon, with just enough time to look over her lesson plans and try to get to bed early.

By 3:00AM she gave up lying and staring up at the ceiling. By 4:00AM she had ironed her clothes and packed up her toiletries and everything else she had unpacked earlier. She had only brought two large suitcases from her old apartment and had sold off everything else. Now it was 6:00AM and she just couldn't wait any longer.

The teachers residence was spread throughout the schools campus but still allowed privacy.

She found out that there were four teachers staying in each complex and just hoped to get along with her neighbors. Unlocking the door she was pleased to see the place she would be staying at indefinitely. It was a small 1-bedroom apartment with her own kitchen and restroom. This was actually better than she had imagined.

New York had been a great experience for her and she was happy to have been able to do so many gigs at local bars, and off Broadway shows while she was a student. But being at Nyada only showed her how much she wanted to teach others what she had learned. Of course she still loved to sing, and perform but she wanted to teach and not only be in the limelight. When the opportunity came for her to work at Crest Bridge she couldn't pass it up.

If she was being completely honest with herself, she knew that she also needed to get away from all of the people she had met as well. Her days at Nyada were also spent jumping from guy to girl and back. Not that she was a floosy or anything, but she just wanted to take advantage of her popularity. And she didn't want to be that person anymore.

No matter how many people she kissed and eventually took home she still felt empty inside.

But this was a new start in a new state where no one knew of her and her past.

This was Rachel Berry's fresh start.


	2. Chapter 2

Walking into her teacher orientation reminded her of the first day of school, and it was in a way. She made her way to the snacks and smiled to some of what she believed to be the veteran staff members.

_So far so good_.

The schools principle introduced herself and explained how the program worked, and went over other basics.

As she was taking in all the information someone barged through the double doors of the teachers lounge. Rachel was in the far corner opposite the double doors and couldn't see over the others, given the height difference. All that she could gather was that it was a woman and apparently this was her first time here as well.

The voice sounded familiar to her, but there was too much noise to really hear her clearly.

Rachel had gotten used to working her way through a crowd, especially given her tiny stature, but she didn't feel it necessary to do today. She was trying to just soak everything in.

At the end of the brief orientation they were all given a map of the school grounds and encouraged to look around. School didn't officially start for a few days and the staff was already walking about when she exited.

The campus was beautiful and was right at the waters edge.

Santa Barbara, California was definitely a huge change of scenery from NYC. Gone were the large skyscrapers and taxicabs she loved. But it wasn't bad, she was now met with the warm summer breeze as she looked beyond one of the school buildings to the beach that was less that a block away, distance wise.

With that in mind, she realized that unlike NY, she needed to buy herself a car. It was nice living on the school grounds, but she still needed to get some groceries and things for her apartment.

Back at her apartment she heard a knock at the door. As she approached she realized that she hadn't actually met anyone who lived in her complex. She was happy to have met some of the other staff members, but she really wanted to get an idea of who she'd be sharing walls with.

As she opened the door she was met with a man who couldn't be much older than 30 standing at her door. He was wearing sandals, and board shorts, and a loose button up shirt. He was fit and had chiseled facial features. His hair, although a little unruly was a caramel color that flowed nicely.

"Hi, I'm Brody Fisher, I live next door."

Rachel was left a little speechless, she thought these guys only existed in surfer movies.

"uhh… Hi, um.. I'm uhh Rachel_" great now he thinks I'm a stuttering idiot._

"Hi uhhh Rachel" he laughed a little, his shoulders shaking a bit.

_Get yourself together Rachel, he's a fellow collogue, you are not in high school anymore… well ok technically you are, but you are an adult now. and are a part of this faculty! _

"I'm sorry, let me try again… Hi I'm Rachel Berry, its nice to meet you" _much better. _"Where are my manners, would you like to come in?"

"I'd love to but I need to finish unpacking, but its nice to meet you too, and no need to be nervous, I've been here 3 years now and you will be just fine. Just need to adjust" He said as he stepped back.

"Okay well thanks and maybe we can chat a bit more later?" Rachel bit her lip, it was a nervous habit. But she just wanted to make some friends and feel like less of an outsider.

"Sure, sounds great. Catch ya later." He waved and was gone.

As she turned the door handle she felt her hands slick with sweat. _What was that about_?

Rachel knew she shouldn't already like someone she barely knew, look at where it got her in high school and college.

Finn was a disaster from the start. Although he was a cute disaster who really had loved her. He was selfish, but in the end he let her go and it was the best thing for both of them.

After Finn she couldn't even remember how things had gone so far with him. Sure he was nice to her, but he still laughed at her as she got slushier countless times.

She wasn't going to let that happen again. She just needed a plan.

Pulling out a piece of paper she made a list of reasons why she should not get in a relationship right now.

After about 10 minutes she had narrowed it down to CONS : obsessive, low self esteem, over bearing, and stalkerish as the reasons she shouldn't get involved. PROS: love, companionship and sex were at the top of that list.

She cleaned the bathroom, and set up her bedroom, which was luckily furnished with a queen size bed, as well as the living room with a long sofa, coffee table and television. She even had a small dining table near the kitchen with two chairs.

After wiping down the counters in the kitchen and rearranging some things in the apartment she decided to go to the grocery story before it became dark.

Once she called a cab she had to trek up a small grassy hill to get to the public road where the cab would be waiting. Turning back as she waited, Rachel swears she had never seen such a gorgeous sight. The water was just gleaming a beautiful blue/green color.

She could see some of the private boats further down the beach that were docked, and could also make out which building was hers.

The school sat atop several acres of land just along the coast of Santa Barbara. There were lots of large trees scattered about and she couldn't wait to explore it some more the next day if she had time.


	3. Chapter 3

The grocery store was a few miles away and she was happy that the taxi driver offered to wait for her.

Rachel had to make sure to only buy the basics and necessities right now, especially since she didn't have her own car to drive down the to blocked off employee parking.

She was already dreading walking down the small hill once she got back into the cab.

Atleast she felt like home when she was seated in the cab. She remembered all the times she took a cab home from dinner with friends, or sharing a cab with strangers. She never thought she would be as open as she was in NY, but the city was just freeing for her. It completely broke her out of her shell and allowed her to be who she really was.

Long gone were the argyle sweater and mini skirts, they were replaced with leggings, scarf's and mittens in the winter.

Now she would have to get new wardrobe again to fit in with the warm southern California weather. She already missed the cold, but that could be because it was comfortable to her already.

The drive back to school made her think about other things that had changed, like the fact that she was no longer vegan. She had given that up after meeting Vanessa, her first girlfriend during the second year at school.

Vanessa was just to open, and vibrant and determined to make Rachel try things atleast once. So that's how she tried her first real hotdog at Coney Island.

That had been just the start. But eventually Rachel admitted that she was no longer into it. Or maybe she never was, she just liked the attention and it was nice having someone around. But she never felt the flutters in her stomach, or any of those other cliché love symptoms.

As the taxi rounded the corner and exited towards her new place, she prepared to make the long trek back to her apartment.

After paying the driver she turned and watched as the sun was halfway through setting. It was then that she looked down the grassy slope and saw a woman lying down. She was on a blanket, and was immersed in a book. She had long tone legs underneath her cut off shorts, and a yellow tank top. Her hair was short and choppy from what Rachel could see.

She was so engrossed with the woman that she didn't notice the tear in her grocery bag, until she saw her bag of apples sliding down the hill.

_Oh Shit! _She thought to herself as said bag of apples hit the blond on the top of her head.

Rachel went half running/ half walking down the hill towards the other woman. She felt so embarrassed and didn't want to tumble over her in the process.

Once she approached her she came to a screeching halt. She literally dug her heels into the grass so hard that some grass and mud flew up.

_It can't be, she thought to herself. This is just too much of a coincidence. Maybe if I just turn around and run she will not see me. _

By that time the woman had stood up and was bending down to pick up the apples that had attacked her in the middle of her book.

Turing around, she was surprised at who she saw.

"Rachel?" she said fully turning around and seeing the short brunette after 5 long years.

"What are you doing here? How are you?" Quinn couldn't ask the questions quick enough. After high school Rachel pretty much lost contact with all the glee members. Quinn had even tried reaching her a few times during her first semester at Yale, but she never got through.

Quinn couldn't believe that she was standing there in front of the girl she had thought about pretty often. She definitely looked different from her high school days, although Rachel had started dressing better senior year.

"Uhh.. Quinn, wow hi, I guess I could say the same for you" she looked awkwardly at her shoes. She felt like she was right back in school, she was nervous and couldn't exactly meet the intense gaze Quinn was giving her.

"I am actually a teacher here, Literature. I just got here earlier today." She said approaching the brunette and handing her the bag of apples.

Quinn wondered why Rachel looked so awkward, but then she actually felt anger come over her.

"What happened to you Rachel? I tried reaching you years ago and its like you fell off the face of this earth." She didn't realize it but her face had become a little red and she couldn't honestly say where this anger was all coming from. She and Rachel were actually friends when they had graduated. But maybe that's why she was so angered.

"Well Quinn I'd love to talk more about this, but perhaps we can do it someone less public" she said looking around, even though there wasn't really anyone else within hearing distance of them.

"Oh and to answer your question, I am also a teacher here, music of course, and this is my first year as well. So it would probably be for the best if we went to my place to talk." Rachel said, she honestly didn't know what to say. Of course she knew that she would run into people from McKinley eventually, but this was just so unexpected.

"Actually Rachel, I really should be getting back to my place as well, I need to set up lesson plans and get settled in. I guess I'll see you around" she said and then bolted in the opposite direction.

Rachel just stood there for a few moments watching the blond walking off.

_Flashback : Freshman year Nyada_

_Rachel had just gotten back to her dorm after a social mixer with the other freshman. _

_She was so excited that no one knew of her past. She finally fit in. _

_Rachel had always wished she had fit in more in high school, but that's wasn't possible since Quinn had targeted her from their freshman year as the loser of the school. _

_It wasn't until she started dating Finn that people were kind of nice to her. But she knew it was all fake. _

_Now she was finally in a place where people accepted her and wanted to get to know her. _

_As she got into bed, she noticed a text from Quinn. _

_Quinn: Hey Rach, how's Nyada? It definitely feels different from Lima. Well I hope you are doing well, we need to catch up soon. _

_Rachel looked at the screen a few times. She was a mixture of awe and annoyance. She never thought her and Quinn would get to the point of texting eathother. But they had grown closer last year. _

_Now though, as she looked at the text she was reminded of all the bad things Quinn said and did to her. _

_She should have been accepted in high school, but that was impossible after she was labeled a loser by the rising star and eventual cheerio captain. _

_It was then that she decided that she no longer wanted anything to do with Lima or anyone there. She was relieved that Finn had forced her to go, and she would always be grateful for that. But she needed to cut ties. _

_This was her time to shine. It was her time to finally be who she was always meant to be. _

_Sure it would be hard at first to not call Kurt or Tina when she needed to vent, and even Quinn. But she had to do it. _

_Kurt had Blain, and Tina and Mike. They didn't need her, and she didn't need them either. _

_And Quinn. Well Rachel couldn't figure out why it would be so hard to shut out the girl. But she was sure that she could do it. _

_Quinn, was smart, and beautiful and just exuded confidence. Surely she'd make friends soon enough and forget all about the short brunette. So its better to do it first and save the heartache… not heartache.. just disappointment and cut her losses first. _

_And so that's what she did. She ignored calls unless they were from her parents. And when holidays came around she would always try to convince her parents to visit her instead of going home. And if she did go home she would leave the house. Telling her fathers that she just missed the house and her room. _

_Ultimately Rachel felt as thought this would be better for her and her future. Did she miss her friends? Of course, but she figured after a few years they wouldn't want to continue with her friendship anyway. _


End file.
